I’ve left comments on various blogs to the effect that I didn’t think the Talmadge Heflin election challenge was going anywhere, mainly because I don’t think Republican lawmakers want to be drawn into that fight, especially when it seems unlikely Heflin would win a new race, given the inept campaign he ran the last time.
However, I’ve also said that a side benefit to the scrutiny resulting from the election challenge might well be that we get a handle on all sorts of voting problems that aren’t necessarily an effort to “steal” an election (as has been alleged in some quarters) but are nonetheless problems.
On Sunday, Joe Stinebaker wrote about one of those problems that need some sunshine:
Dozens of foreign citizens, and perhaps hundreds more, have been allowed to vote in U.S. elections in Harris County because of the county’s reliance on an “honor system” that effectively allows almost anyone to vote.
At least 35 foreign citizens either applied for or received voter cards last year by checking a box on the application saying they were U.S. citizens, said Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, who also is the county’s voter registrar.
“If you check that you’re a citizen, you’ll get a card, unless we have some previous knowledge of your name,” he said. “If they check yes and they’re not a citizen, there is no database that is open to the public that I know of that you can check against.”
Besides the 35 confirmed noncitizen applicants last year, Bettencourt is investigating at least 70 others and will send a list of suspected offenders to the Harris County district attorney, who can charge them with a misdemeanor if they haven’t voted or a felony if they have. Although Bettencourt canceled the applications and registrations of the initial 35, he acknowledges there are sure to be more who have avoided detection.
“Because it’s an honor system, fraud certainly exists,” he said. “You never know what level of fraud you have, but we know of non-U.S. citizens voting, that’s for sure.”
One of our favorite readers emailed to note that opinion columnist Rick Casey dismissed the problem, since it’s not clear that it had any impact on the Vo/Heflin race.
Obviously, it’s not a problem that should be dismissed so lightly, especially given Paul Bettencourt’s admission that Harris County voter registration effectively operates on the honor system. Indeed, I suspect we’ll be seeing legislation taken up at the national level that deals with issues of identification and citizenship (driver’s licenses, voting, etc.), and that the ensuing debate on the right might get heated. Maybe that will interest Rick Casey.
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